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Cosmology
The Great Wheel cosmology was the cosmological model in which the world of Yel'Celora used post "Great Calamity" era. The Great wheel was described as a complex, comparatively cosmopolitan place in which the gods of many worlds and pantheon mingled, the beliefs of many faiths and peoples pleeding together in a set of Outer Planes shaped predominantly by the polar forces of Law, Chaos, Good, and Evil. Basic Structure The Great Wheel cosmology consisted of a series of somewhat concentric spheres. In the center was the Prime Material plane containing the phlogiston with the crystal spheres and worlds within, surrounded by an Ethereal plane(misty realms of proto-matter). Outside of the Prime and Ethereal were the Inner planes, also called the Elemental planes, which had their own structure based on a sphere. Then came the Astral plane which connected the worlds in the Prime Material plane to each other (bypassing the phlogiston) and also to the last sphere, the Outer planes. The Prime Material plane touched both the Astral plane and its Ethereal plane, though these planes did not touch one another. The Outer planes, also called the Planes of Power, were 16 planes arranged in a circle (the Great Wheel) defined mainly by alignment and surrounding a 17th neutral plane known as the Outlands. The Inner planes were the six major elemental planes (Fire, Earth, Water, Air, Feywild, Shadowfell), these were then again surrounded by the elemental chaos. Demiplanes were planes of finite extent found within an Ethereal plane. They may have been the creations of extremely powerful wizards, technologists, or demigods or they may have been created when a large glob of proto-matter began to pull away from its Ethereal plane and achieved separation. Demiplanes might eventually collapse in on themselves, re-merge with its parent Ethereal, or merge with an Inner plane or Prime Material plane. Each demiplane had its own rules regarding gravity, vision, magic, and material make-up. Ethereal Planes In the Great Wheel model each Prime Material plane had its own Ethereal plane in which nothing was solid, including living creatures, their possessions, weapons and armor. All metal became ethereal metal, flesh became ethereal flesh, stone to ethereal stone, etc. The Ethereal touched its Prime at all points and bound it to the Inner planes but the connections were not abrupt transitions like to/from the Astral plane but rather a gradual process in what was called the Border Ethereal. If you consider the Ethereal to be an ocean, a person in the Border Ethereal would be standing in the surf near the shore, invisible to those on land but able to see them and their surroundings dimly. One could travel along the shore, staying in the surf, and step back on land at some other point, or move away from the shore toward the Deep Ethereal. A curtain of vaporous color marked the transition between the Border Ethereal and the Deep Ethereal and each plane had its own color. After traversing the Deep Ethereal and reaching the curtain of the correct color, you would pass through to the Border Ethereal of your destination plane.21 By use of magic (or the natural ability that some creatures were thought to have, like phase spiders) one could fade into the Ethereal and travel at will. Gravity gave a sense of up and down, but movement in any direction was equally easy and objects released hovered in place. The proto-matter swirling about the Ethereal plane could be used to create demi-planes, either through natural fluctuations in the medium or by the actions of powerful beings. The known Demi-planes at the time were the Demi-Plane of Shadow, the Demi-Plane of Time, the Demi-Plane of Electro-Magnetism and the possibly legendary Demi-Plane of Imprisonment. Astral Plane The Astral plane was described as infinite nothingness interrupted only by small islands of material that broke off from their native planes and occasional spinning columns of astral conduits (called wormholes or gates and resembling water spouts from a storm at sea). The Astral plane connected the various Prime Material Planes with each other and to the first layers of all the Outer planes. Travel in the Astral was usually accomplished by spell, psionics, device, or color pool ''and involved leaving your physical body behind while your astral self traveled to your destination. During this transit, a nearly unbreakable silver cord connected your astral self back to your physical body. When you arrived at another plane, a new physical body manifested out of local materials. Wormholes linked specific places in the Outer planes to each other and to fixed locations in the Primes—quicker but likely more dangerous because your physical body was transported directly to a terminus that might be inhospitable or guarded. Inner Planes The Inner Planes surround and enfold the Material Plane and its echoes, providing the raw elemental substance from which all worlds were made. The four Elemental Planes- Air, Earth, Fire, and Water- form a ring around the Material Plane, suspended within a churning realm known as the Elemental Chaos. These planes are all connected, and the border regions between them are sometimes described as distinct planes in their own right. At their innermost edges, where they are closest to the Material Plane (in a conceptual if not a literal geographical sense), the four Elemental Planes resemble places in the Material Plane. The four elements mingle together as they do in the Material Plane, forming land, sea, and sky. But the dominant element exerts a strong influence on the environment, reflecting its fundamental qualities. The inhabitants of this inner ring include aarakocra, azers, dragon turtles, gargoyles, genies, mephits, salamanders, and xorn. Some originated on the Material Plane, and all can travel to the Material Plane (if they have access to the magic required) and survive there. As. they extend farther from the Material Plane, the Elemental Planes become increasingly alien and hostile. Here, in the outermost regions, the elements exist in their purest form: great expanses of solid earth, blazing fire , crystal-clear water, and unsullied air. Any foreign substance is extremely rare; little air can be found in the outermost reaches of the Plane of Earth, and earth is all but impossible to find in the outermost reaches of the Plane of Fire. These areas are much less hospitable to travelers from the Material Plane than the border regions are. Such regions are little known, so when discussing the Plane of Fire, for example, a speaker usually means the border region. The outermost regions are largely the domains of elemental spirits barely recognizable as creatures. The creatures usually called elementals dwell here, including the Elemental Princes of Evil (primordial beings of pure elemental fury) and elemental spirits that spellcasters can bind into galeb duhrs, golems, invisible stalkers, magmin, and water weirds. These elemental creatures don't need food or other sustenance on their home planes, because they are sustained by the elemental energies that saturate those planes. Elemental Plane of Air This plane was the most hospitable to beings from the Primes because the substance of the plane was breathable and travel was fairly easy. The whole plane looked like the bluest sky on a summer daywith only the occasional cloud or storm indicating the intrusion of some other element into the constant wind that was the Plane of Air. Pieces of solid matter floated in this realm and became home to other-planer creatures. The open space belonged to the air elementals. Bahamut was thought to have a citadel here, as well as many other deities of various pantheons. Akadi, the queen of free-willed elementals was said to dwell in ''The Great Funnel, within a huge maelstrom able to swallow the known world. Elemental Plane of Fire The Plane of Elemental Fire was a hellish place, filled with all manner and color of flame from the candle to the white-hot glow of heated steel, all burning without fuel and radiating light and heat at maximum levels. Most unprotected matter was quickly consumed by the flames but pockets of other elements could survive in "cold spots" where the temperature was near that of a hot Prime desert. The evil efreet and their fabled City of Brass resided here. Also the dwarf-like azer mined the basalt rocks that survived the heat for metals for their craft. Kossuth, the tyrant-king of the fire elementals dwelt in his palace at the center of his realm called The Crimson Pillar. Elemental Plane of Earth More inhospitable than even the Plane of Fire, the Plane of Elemental Earth was so solid that movement was nearly impossible unless a traveler could find a pocket of some less dense element or use magic to force an opening or permit them to walk through solid material. Without some protection a non-native being would be caught like a fly in amber under tremendous pressure from the surrounding rock and without air to breathe or light to see. Inhabitants of this plane included xorn, crysmal, and the dao. Grumbar, the largest and most powerful Earth elemental resided in The Great Mountain. Ogremoch, the prince of evil earth creatures had his own flat-topped mountain inside the largest pocket of vacuum known to exist in the plane. The only deity from the Realms to make his home here was Geb in his Caverns Under the Stars. Elemental Plane of Water An ocean without a surface, the Plane of Elemental Water had uniform pressure in all directions and felt like being several feet below the surface of a typical body of water in a Prime Material Plane, and indeed was illuminated with the same soft light of that depth. The salinity of the water varied depending on proximity to the Negative Energy plane—pure salt at the boundary with the quasi-elemental Plane of Salt, briny as you moved away, becoming pure and fresh in the middle, then getting warmer and more agitated as you approached the quasi-elemental Plane of Steam. Pockets of the other elements could be found here, but travelers that required air to breathe needed to make other arrangements. Inhabitants of this plane included water weirds, nereids, tritons, and the marid. Istishia made his home here in a realm called the Sea of Timelessness. The Murky Depths was the realm of Blibdoolpoolp. Shelluria was the realm of Eadro and Persana. Feywild Also known as the Positive Material plane and the Plane of Life, every atom of this plane vibrated with intense energy and produced light across a wide spectrum. An unprotected traveler, if continuously exposed to the energies of this plane, would at first be healed of any wounds, then the cells of the body would quickly reach their maximum potential and then explode and become part of the plane, all in a matter of minutes. All non-magical or non-living material was quickly destroyed. The only known inhabitants of this plane were the inscrutable xag-ya which seemed mindless by Prime Material plane standards, but must have had some intelligence because they could act as a local guide or a guardian when summoned to other planes. Where the Positive Energy plane metaphysically intersected with the four major elemental planes, Air, Fire, Earth and Water, it created the quasi-elemental planes of Lightning, Radiance, Minerals, and Steam respectively. Shadowfell Also known as the Negative Material plane or the Plane of Death, everything in this plane sucked in all matter and energy creating a cold, pitch dark realm with structures made up of physical, solid blackness. Any unprotected visitor would quickly sicken, shrivel up, and die in mere minutes. Magical light sources could barely penetrate the darkness and non-magical material collapsed into dust and joined the black. Many undead drew their animating force from the Negative Energy plane which allowed them to drain life force from the living. The only known inhabitants of this plane were the mysterious xeg-yi, analog to the xag-ya in the Positive Energy plane, and a species of "energy vulture" called the trillochs which may have originated on a demi-plane that got absorbed. Where the Negative Energy plane metaphysically intersected with the four major elemental planes, Air, Fire, Earth, and Water, it created the quasi-elemental planes of Vacuum, Ash, Dust, and Salt respectively. Elemental Chaos The Elemental Chaos is the fundamental plane within which are contained all of the former elemental planes and energy planes. A tempestuous sea of ever-changing terrain and clashing elements, with stability only enforced in isolated locations, the Elemental Chaos is ruled over, at least in name if not fact, by the primordials and is the equal and opposite of its divine counterpart, the Astral Sea, as the primordials are the opposites of the gods as demons are to devils. In spite of its chaotic and dangerous landscape most parts of the Chaos are relatively easy to travel through, or at least so much as most other planes. Outer Planes The Outer planes were organized according to alignment, which is most easily visualized as a wheel with spokes radiating from the center of true neutrality. In the diagram below, planes associated with Good (sometimes called the Upper planes) are found above the line running from Nirvana to Limbo, and Evil-associated planes (sometimes called the Lower planes) are below. Planes associated with Law are found to the left of the line running from Elysium to Hades, and Chaos-associated planes to the right. Many of the Outer planes were divided into layers—infinite sub-regions that metaphysically overlaped the other layers of the same plane. Traveling the Outer Planes Traveling between the Outer Planes isn't dissimilar from reaching the Outer Planes in the first place. Characters traveling by means of the astral projection spell can go from one plane into the Astral Plane , and there search out a color pool leading to the desired destination. Characters can also use plane shift to reach a different plane more directly. Most often, though, characters use portals- either a portal that links the two planes directly or a portal leading to Sigil, City of Doors, which holds portal to all the planes. Two planar features connect multiple Outer Planes together: the River Styx and the Infinite Staircase. The River Styx This river bubbles with grease, foul flotsam, and the putrid remains of battles along its banks. Any creature other than a fiend that tastes or touches the water is affected by a feeblemind spell. The Styx churns through the top layers of Acheron, the Nine Hells, Gehenna, Hades, Carceri, the Abyss, and Pandemonium. Tributaries of the Stux snake onto lower layers of these planes. For example, a tendril of the Stux winds through every layer of the Nine Hells, allowing passage from one layer of that plane to the next. Sinister ferries float on the waters of the Stux, crewed by pilots skilled in negotiating the unpredictable currents and eddies of the river. For a price, these pilots are willing to carry passengers from plane to plane. The Infinite Staircase The Infinite Staircase is an extradimensional spiral staircase that connects the planes. An entrance to the Infinite Staircase usually appears as a nondescript door. Beyond the portal lies a small landing with an equally non descript stairway leading up and down. The Infinite Staircase changes appearance as it climbs and descends, going from simple stairs of wood or stone to a chaotic jumble of stairs hanging in radiant space, where no two steps share the same gravitational orientation. It is said that one can find one's heart's desire on the Infinite Staircase through diligent searching of each landing. Doors to the Infinite Staircase are often tucked away in dusty, half-forgotten places that no one frequents or pays any attention to. On any given plane, there can be multiple doors to the Infinite Staircase, through entrances aren't common knowledge and are occasionally guarded by devas, sphinxes, yugoloths, and other powerful creatures. The Outer Planes * Abyss * Acheron * Arborea * Arcadia * Beastlands * Bytopia * Carceri * Elysium * Gehenna * Hades * Limbo * Mechanus * Mount Celestia * Nine Hells * Pandemonium * Ysgard Other Planes Outlands Category:Cosmology Category:Planes